Useful stats: Opportunity Zone-eligible census tracts by state

Note: this article has been updated.

The recent tax law created a new vehicle, “Opportunity Zones” (Section 13823), to spur investment in companies and projects in distressed communities. As covered in detail during a recent SSTI members-only webinar, the tax incentive provides investors who reinvest capital gains into these zones with the ability to defer taxes on those gains and, if the Opportunity Zone investment is held at least 10 years, to waive taxes on any new capital gains. Zones must be declared this spring by each state’s governor, and only 25 percent of a state’s high poverty or low income census tracts may be included.

Eligible census tracts are determined by the same poverty and income criteria that determine eligibility for New Markets Tax Credits. The map above, which is based on data compiled from the American Community Survey by Novogradac & Co., displays the number of tracts that may be included in Opportunity Zones in each state — Novogradac’s NMTC Resource Center includes additional eligibility information and a national map of eligible census tracts. 

Update:  The U.S. Treasury's CDFI Fund has released its own resource center with a map and list of not only the eligible census tracts but also contiguous tracts that can be included in a state's submission. The resource center is available at: cdfifund.gov.